The collapse of Afghan military: We’ve seen this movie before

Whats happening in Afghanistan now is bringing back memories of what happened in Iraq in 2014.

The Taliban’s lightning offensive in Afghanistan this past weekend which saw the Afghan military hand over the country to the armed group without putting up a real fight brought back memories of the ISIL (ISIS) group’s 2014 invasion of Iraq which led to the collapse of the country’s army. In response to the latest events in Afghanistan, international media published articles with headlines such as “How the Taliban Overran the Afghan Army, Built by the US Over 20 Years”, and asked questions like “The US Spent $83 Billion Training Afghan Forces. Why Did They Collapse So Quickly?” Similar questions had regularly been raised about the Iraqi army in the past (I answered some of these questions in a recent journal article). And the explanations provided for the many failures of the Iraqi military since the 2003 US invasion can be useful in understanding the reasons behind the Afghan military’s recent collapse.